Some of you may recall in some of my earlier posts that the hubby and have been discussing building a better, somewhat larger chicken coop with a nursery to occupy current and future feathered guests (both short time guests and those that are there for the duration). Well, we have come up with a plan. A plan, that to many, will be extravagant. A plan, that to those of you who also homestead, have livestock, or just love chickens, will be right on spot. A plan, that to those who have done this before, will need some tweaking. So! Bring on your ideas, comments, suggestions, YOUR plans, etc. (as long as they are positive! Actually, it doesn’t matter if you comment is negative. We usually do what we want around our neck of the woods! LOL)
I don’t currently have a pic of the plan because the hubby just drew it up… and it already has some tweaking done to it via our further discussions! Of course, you know how PLANNING goes! You start with plan A and quickly discard that one, as well as plan B and C. When you finally settle on a plan and carry it through, you realize it’s like plan z or something after that! That is why, again, I welcome all your comments, especially from those that have walked this path before!
Now, I know you will find this crazy, stunning, and completely off the wall! BUT, what started as a discussion for an improved (but still small) chicken coop, has now expanded into a 30×30 foot building, complete with the main coop, a nursery, a juvenile detention center (for those birds that have turned into juvenile delinquents overnight and want to bully the smaller chick but who can’t quite hold their own with the bigger inmates), a butchering room, a cold room (to hang and rest the meat), a pig farrowing room, and a feed room. There will also be an 8-10 foot walkway down the middle and all pens will have outside access. I may be forgetting a room or two, but I think I’ve got it all down!
Pigs and butchering will be on one side, while the chicks will all the other side of the coop, barn, building, oh! whatever it’s going to be called now!
And this, or course, takes us to the WHY we are building a new … something! Well, for starters, we do not have an adequate space to do what we would like to do. Second, because the old coop is, well, not fit for a pig! It’s small, it’s dark, it’s ventilated, but not well, it’s hard to clean, and the pigs have torn it up on several occasions, making us have to do some patch jobs. And then there is the dirt floor that I DESPISE having to clean. Ok, maybe that’s the main reason. Because I’m tired of looking at that makeshift coop that we threw together a few years ago just to get started on the chicken stuff.
I’ve learned and grown when it comes to chickens since then. This new building wouldn’t be complete without concrete floors AND some much needed ventilation for the birds. I think the hubby wants to put in doors along the bottom portion of the building that are actually covered with chicken wire and the swing open to circulate the air. We shall see how that actually goes.
Looks like we are setting production for the first part of June. It should be plenty hot by then so the concrete can dry and then we can start the building process. I’m looking forward to this!
What are YOUR plans for the homestead/farm/etc this year? And what are your suggestions for ours??
Until next time, happy farming!
